"When Your Wife Travels to Itay" From the album Cranes in the Moonlight.

A few years ago my wife traveled to Italy with her mother. It was a once in a lifetime adventure. I was invited, but work necessitated that I remain stateside. Although I received regular updates via phone and email, the proverb, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” definitely applied. This tune developed during this time and seemed to express a sadness and poignancy more so than wistfulness. I hear it now as the dialogue between two people far apart, perhaps just as much in space as in feeling, depending on the listener’s perspective. This is a result, in large part, from Jess Townsend’s impassioned performance on violin. Alex Somov’s accordion presents a counter point or response to the guitar. A lovely reunion ensued upon my wife’s return. I tried to capture some of this and tell a similar story with this footage.

"Cranes in the Moonlight" From the album Cranes in the Moonlight.

Our home is situated across from a small lake inhabited by an abundance of wildlife. During the late summer and fall months a large flock of Sandhill Cranes, commonly called a “sedge,” claim certain portions of this lake for socializing and breeding. In the evenings this sedge of cranes, who make an auditory appearance in the tune, slowly expands, crane by crane, in shallow waters to cavort and vocalize. Their movements are not unlike the gyrations and awkward gesticulations I’ve witnessed on the dance floors of sparsely populated discos during the last days of the disco fad. In fact, I wonder, if like human beings, these magnificent and ancient birds are enticed to move in strange ways by some inner music, like human beings are seduced by vibration, rhythm and the beat of music whether it be a disco, ball room, or the communal dances of our ancestors. It has become a pastime of mine to take my paddle board out on the lake in the evenings and float as near as I can get to these long legged, winged creatures to watch and listen as they feel the urge to move and make such prehistoric sounds. Quite often they will gather well into the night. On one such night, after witnessing this spectacular phenomenon by the light of a full moon this tune was born. Northwestern Lower Michigan artist Glenn Wolff, who has created the cover art for all of my albums, created a beautiful water colored drypoint engraving for the cover of Cranes in the Moonlight. This is the background for the video.

"Earthbound" From the album Cranes in the Moonlight was inspired by a short story from John Mauk’s book Field Notes for the Earthbound. It is a is a tale of a small town life that focuses on two boys obsessed with a girl who can supposedly fly. I don’t know about you, but when I was a child I dreamt of, dwelled upon, and wished for the ability to transcend gravity experience the physical sensation of flying, unencumbered through the air like a bird. “Earthbound” is a performed on a solo baritone acoustic guitar made by luthier Russel Crosby.

"Unfettered" From the album Cranes in the Moonlight was born out of a feeling of release and freedom from the day-to-day working life of the past 45 years. I suddenly found myself unshackled from the alarm clock, the rigid demands of "the job,” and the seemingly endless minutiae of the working life. I felt, as I imagine Sisyphus would, should he ever push that stone to the top of the mythological hill and be able to walk away with it permanently embedded at the top, never to roll again. It dawned on me that I was free to take whichever path fancy led me to pursue. So fortunate and unfettered from the cosmic chains of modern working life, was I. This feeling is communicated so clearly by songwriter and guitar aficionado Noah Zacharin's sweet lead guitar.

"Ashes to Ashes" features myself on nylon guitar, Crispin Campbell on cello, and Jack Dryden on stand up bass. The tune expresses grief, but just as importantly, it expresses an emotional reverence, and/or a desire for a meaningful farewell that did not occur. To my ears the cello expresses something ethereal, the bass is a terrestrial essence and the guitar exists between the two. All three instruments intertwine to create a melody that represents a looking back on the better things of a life lived.

"Walking Mojo" – Roughly 14 years ago we adopted a young rescue dog who accepted the name “Mojo.” Mojo loves to be outside and is a truly all-weather dog who loves to walk, by which I mean lead one of her human pack on an excursion. It was on one of those walks that this tune was conceived. I tried to capture sonically the stop and go meandering of her movements on the excursions we have made on and off many a wooded trail over the years. The superb playing of violinist Valente Santé captures the essence of these walks perfectly.